1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tube loading apparatus, and more particularly to a tube loading apparatus for loading a flexible tube into a receiving section such as a longitudinal groove.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is known a tube connecting device in which ends of tubes to be connected are heated and melted and then the ends are connected by fusion, which is for example disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,779.
The tube connecting device includes a pair of holders (blocks) which can hold two tubes to be connected in parallel with each other and a wafer (plate-like heating element) which is adapted to move across the tubes. In this device, two tubes are put into grooves formed in the respective holders so that these tubes are directed to the opposite directions and arranged in parallel to each other. Under these conditions, the wafer is heated and then moved to melt and cut off the tubes. Thereafter, one of the holders is shifted in the radial direction of the tube, and then the wafer is removed, to connect the predetermined tubes to each other by fusion.
In the meantime, in such a tube connecting device, the width of the respective groove formed in the holder is smaller than the outer diameter of the tube to be loaded. Therefore, conventionally, it was necessary to force the tube into the groove by a hand of an operator.
However, when the tube is forced into the groove, there is a case that the tube is imperfectly loaded within the groove since the tube is likely to be disengaged from the groove due to its resiliency. Such a manual operation takes lot of time and trouble, thus leading to difficulty in automating the tube connecting device.